483 - Harold Lloyd in From Hand to Mouth, United States, 1919. Dir. Alfred J. Goulding.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

483 - Harold Lloyd in From Hand to Mouth, United States, 1919.  Dir. Alfred J. Goulding.

The Boy - Harold Lloyd
Hungry enough to eat a turnip and call it turkey.

The Girl - Mildred Davis
So innocent she thinks Yale Locks are made in college.

The Kidnapper - Harry Pollard
For a dollar and a half he would steal St. Louis.

The Waif - Peggy Courtwright
Starved until her heels are hollow.

Titles by H. M. Walker.

There are more Wills than there are croaks in a bullfrog.

Mr. Will Willing the lawyer.
His conscience is as thin as a paper napkin.

Mr. Will Snobbe.
His head would make a fine hat rack.

Mr. Will Shake.
Will it will or will it won't?

The Last Will and Testament of Will Dodge.

The Boy
The only will that worries him is Will he eat?

The Boy looks through the window of Good Eats.  The Waif with her dog joins him.  The manager runs them off.  They sit on the curb.

A man sits on the curb near them with a bag of cookies.  The Boy tears open the bottom of the bag and hands one to The Waif and keeps one for himself.  The Waif feeds hers to the dog and takes his for herself.  She runs off.  He chases her.

This begins a madcap series of chase that will keep you laughing.

The Boy chases the Waif.

The police chase The Boy.

The Kidnapper kidnaps The Girl.

The Boy chases The Kidnapper.

The Kidnapper chases The Boy.

The Boy chases the police.

The police chase The Boy.

The Police capture The Kidnapper.

The Boy and The Girl chase the clock.

The Boy gets The Girl.

The Girl gets the fortune.

The Boy and The Girl get The Waif and her dog, and they all live happily ever after.

But it is not about the plot.  It is about the stunts, the chases, the visual puns, and the precision with which they are executed.

This film was made 99 years ago.

Is there anything this funny being made today?

Are there any stunts this precise today?

Are there any visual puns this smart today?

Maybe.

But if so, it may take you awhile to find it.

For sheer delightful, light-hearted, witty, romantic, physical, farcical comedy, these films seem as if they are among the very best ever made.